If the flour crisis in Pakistan is not controlled, the bread will not be available even for 25 rupees

Dr Abdul Waheed
In Pakistan, the trend of increasing wheat and flour prices is being seen once again. Flour prices are increasing day by day across the country and this is affecting people.
According to the Bureau of Statistics, the price of flour has increased by about three percent (2.81 percent) in the last week of December, which clearly means that the price of a 20 kg bag of flour has increased by at least 200 rupees this week.
During winter, the situation in many areas is that if the gas pressure of the house is low, then one has to turn to the oven, while a roti from the oven is not available for less than 25 rupees.
Despite being an agricultural country, for the past two years, Pakistan has been depending on wheat imports to meet its needs.
Wheat is a staple food in Pakistan and each Pakistani consumes an average of 124 kg of wheat annually.
Mossadeq Abbasi an oven owner told that apart from the increase in the prices of flour, the prices of electricity, gas and other essential commodities have also increased.
According to him, ‘I pay 15,000 monthly rent for the oven in addition to the salary of two employees, while I submit the electricity and gas bill separately.’
According to him, the price of flour is increasing day by day. In such a situation, it is becoming difficult to meet all the expenses by selling a loaf of Rs 25.
Without wasting any more time, Mossadeq Abbasi got busy putting bread in the oven again for his customers, but the question must arise in the mind that who is responsible for this crisis or how to control this crisis.
Before understanding this crisis, it should be kept in mind that a meeting was held in May this year under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, in which matters like wheat production in the country, current reserves and consumption at the provincial and national levels were considered.
In this meeting, the target of total production of wheat this year was set at 2 crore 29 lakh metric tons while the expected production will be up to 2 crore 26 lakh metric tons. The total consumption of wheat at the country level was estimated at 30 million metric tons.
The meeting presided over by the Prime Minister was told that Punjab has achieved 91.66%, Sindh 49.68%, Balochistan 15.29% and PASCO 100% in terms of procurement of wheat at the government level.
Due to the low production of wheat compared to the local requirement, the federal cabinet approved the import of 3 million wheat into the country.
It should also be noted that last year 20 million metric tons of wheat was produced in the country, but this production was less than the domestic requirement, so Pakistan ordered 2 million tons of wheat from abroad.
Chairman Flour Mills Association Sindh Chaudhry Muhammad Yusuf said that the federal government has stock, if they issue that wheat today, flour can be reduced by 50 rupees per kg. Reduce Rs.
He said that Hamza Shehbaz issued the wheat in September in May. Stock and subsidy was wasted in it, the consequences of which we are suffering today.’
Chaudhry Muhammad Yusuf said that the federal government has tied us up, either allow us to import, or issue it ourselves because the poor people are making bad claims at the moment.
It should be noted that according to the data of the Department of Statistics, Pakistan imported wheat worth 800 million dollars in the first nine months of this year.
The federal minister further said that the wheat should be given to the flour mills associations by the provinces and not by the federation
It was decided in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister in May this year that the reasons for the difference in wheat production target and production are the reduction in wheat cultivation, water shortage and the crisis due to mismanagement in the supply of fertilizer by the previous government..
Moreover, due to the late announcement of the support price for wheat in March, there was also a trend of two percent reduction in wheat cultivation by farmers. Increase in oil prices and climate change i.e. premature increase in heat intensity are also major obstacles in achieving the set target for wheat.
According to wheat sector insiders and experts, if high wheat prices and low rupee continue, imported wheat will further increase the cost of flour for Pakistanis, adding to the already high level of inflation in the country.